A Lesson in Propriety

Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies, Book 1

De: Jen Turano

Narrado por: Tavia Gilbert

With her father dead, her fortune stolen, and her fiancé casting her aside, Miss Drusilla Merriweather's privileged life has been upended. She is left with only one option: to provide for her family by opening a finishing school in the allegedly haunted castle she's inherited from her eccentric aunt. However, her plan is immediately threatened by unscrupulous developers keen on claiming the coveted estate for themselves, by any means necessary.

Mr. Rhenick Wittenbecker, a dashing architect with a tendency to charm his way out of trouble, is convinced he can protect Drusilla but is challenged by her fierce independence. Yet when strange occurrences—walking suits of armor and unexpected ghostly visitors—arise within castle grounds, Drusilla must decide whether to risk her family's safety and her school on the gallant architect who seems to have found his way into her heart.

In this entrancing series starter, Turano presents a tale of laugh-out-loud adventure, swoon-worthy romance, and delightful mischief in the Gilded Age.

©2025 Jen Turano (P)2025 Tantor Media

Love the storyline

It was fun, intriguing, suspicious, funny, romantic and bold with the female characters to take a stand against bullies, authoritative men, and injustice.

Good story, difficult narration

I enjoyed the storyline and characters. The narrator used screeching tones at times in delivering dialog that made it difficult to stay engaged in the story. I appreciated her attempts at changing her voice for different characters, though the delivery was harsh.

The Funniest Novel I have ever listened to!

First- The narrator did an amazing job! Especially Emma! The different voices She was able to capture are amazing.

If you are an I Love Lucy Fan you will love this book. My daughter and I have enjoyed listening to this author and the only disappointment I have is my daughter isn’t with me.

You will also want to have the time to listen because it is fast moving.

I had to listen to it twice because I wasn’t focused enough the first time.
I have laughed and laughed and laughed. I have been sick and this was so perfect for me.

Jen Turano did such an amazing job and I can’t wait for the sequel.
Thank you Jen for brightening up the life of this little old lady.

Outstanding

Completely enjoyable listen. Plot twist was cute as were the characters. I really appreciate the narrators abilities and as always Jen Turano produced a clean, interesting and well written book.

Hijinx Galore

🏰🏰🏰🏰/5

Alright this story was a lot. But in a good way? There were hijinx galore. Silly moments. Interesting characters. Many mishaps. And just a deluge of insanity. But the story was so fun, albeit if a bit odd. But honestly, I loved it.

I was sucked in from the first chapter. I wasn’t sure where this story would go when we meet Drusilla but gosh she is full of sass and temper and whit and just an overall abundance of energy. And I was very quickly her fan. The crux of the story is that she loses everything. Her father, her fiancé, and her fortune. And she comes up with a plan to start over in Chicago at the estate her “missing” aunt had left her.

I loved the castle she inherited. It’s full of haunting ghosts, walking armor, animals aplenty, and unexpected visitors. It was wild and chaotic. And I was soaking it all up and giggling all the while. I bet living there was both frustrating but also such a blast. And I wanted to join in on the fun.

I loved when Rhenick joined the story. His character is dryer but the perfect practical balance to the madness. He’s charming and clever. And the sass and banter between him and Drusilla was fun! I loved watching them come together (and fight) about solving the mysteries of this castle and the random happenings that keep occurring within its walls. And trying to figure out what the heck happened to her aunt…and then her mother!

While I loved the story and crazy plot, I wanted more romance. The scenes we got were great. But it was basically non existent until it wasn’t. And that made it feel a bit rushed and not as developed as I would’ve liked. However, the rest of the story did make up for the lacking of romance. So I guess I couldn’t be too mad. Especially because these characters certainly didn’t have much time to fall in love while traipsing through Chicago trying to solve mystery after mystery.

Fun, castle, ferrets, clean

I enjoyed this book! It was just so fun/funny! Ferrets star in it, as well as guard goats, goose, ravens. Castle, suspense, danger, developers, light romance and so much more, Reader is engaged from the first minute to the last. Enjoyed the narrator too!

Another fantastic Jen Turano book!

The characters are so entertaining and the spooky castle setting is very fun. And the witty banter I’ve come to expect from Jen Turano did not disappoint.

Loved the story but almost returned it!

If you love Jen T writings you’ll love this book too. All the funny outlandish adventures mixed in with love, compassion, and strong women. But I almost gave up several times due to the narrator! Oh my goodness she made almost all the women sound like high squeaky witches. No stop screeching and bemoaning women who sounded a bit drunk too although that’s not in the story line. WAY too over the top melodramatic for my taste and ears. Too bad because besides that the story line was fun. Probably better to read this one. I never thought I’d say this, but I hope she does not read the whole series.

Slow moving

I just could not handle the narrator dramatics and how slowly the story moved through.

Too bizarre for me.

I have listened to sevaral books by this author and enjoyed all of them. Unfortunately, this one was very disappointing due to the unbelievable storyline and annoying narration. I have a lot of respect for authors and good narrators, but I wasted my time and money on this book. Sorry to give a bad review.